Ye Olde Grumpy Gamer Blog. Est. 2004

Ransome *Unbeeped*

We just released the new Ransome *unbeeped* DLC on Steam and GOG. Give the trailer a watch, but I have to warn you, if you're offended by words like *beep*, *beeper*, *beephole*, or *beephead* you might want to avert your ears.

It's a little depressing that a few people are actually upset that we're charging $1.99 for this. Making this wasn't free. It took a lot of work. Programming, testing, audio editing, etc. It feels like people think it was just copying a bunch of audio files over. I've always objected to DLC that was made at the same time as the game and all they do is flip a bit. This is not that kind of DLC. The code to make this work was not written until just a few months ago. We had the idea of MAYBE doing this DLC during the development, but none of the work was done.

We've released two MAJOR updates for FREE since launch, so I think we deserve to try and recover some of our costs. It sometimes feels like people expect game devs to make games for free. This is my livelihood. I use it to pay my rent and buy food. Game pricing is completely screwed up, it's why you see predatory free-to-play games and loot boxes.

The other reason it's not FREE is so people don't suddenly (and without warning) get a full-on *unbeeped* clown swearing at their kids. Having to pay something provides some parental friction.

It's only $1.99 and you'll support game devs trying to make a living so they can keep making games.

Leak

Mar 01, 2018

F*ck it and take my money!!1!eins

Walter

Mar 01, 2018

Please don´t be depressed! Just finished the game 30 minutes ago, and it was great! Best game for a very loooooooooooong *beeeep* time !! Fully support the *beeep* $1.99 !

Beep

Mar 01, 2018

INSTANT BUY

Ilias

Mar 01, 2018

What happened to the Cave related blog post?

Ron Gilbert

Mar 01, 2018

I removed it due to several people coming on and just telling me it was a shitty game (this is why I left twitter). I'm going to rewrite and repost it next week. I think my point was not well communicated.

Paul Wakeford

Mar 01, 2018

Will this come to the Switch too? Thanks.

Paul Wakeford

Mar 01, 2018

P.S. the captcha asks for a sum in text but doesn't accept a text answer. e.g. four plus one = five but it only accepts 5. Am I nitpicker of the week?

Ron Gilbert

Mar 01, 2018

The DLC won't be coming to any of the consoles or mobile due to ratings issues. They all require DLC to have the same rating as the main game.

benderete

Mar 01, 2018

Hi, the DLC includes unbeeped audio version but not unbeeped text (subtitles) version, isn't it?

Zak Phoenix McKracken

Mar 02, 2018

Hearing Ransome in its full speech if more funny than before. I think that Ian Corlett (the Ransome's voice) did a superb job, adding more charme to its character. It's simply appropriate.

Ellerwind

Mar 02, 2018

I just got the DLC on GoG and started a game before I installed the DLC (half thinking it was going to install with the game and half forgot to check). I'm upto the Ransome part and it's still beeped. Do I need to restart the game now that the DLC is installed or is it just a problem I'm having?

Zak Phoenix McKracken

Dolores (not THAT one...)

Mar 02, 2018

Bought and paid for -- a purchase well worth what is less than the cost of a cup of coffee on the road!

I will admit to initially having been taken aback that the DLC wasn't free too. That's because you never mentioned it wasn't in your previous post. (Also, to a lesser extent, because I was one of the original backers.)

Arguably I shouldn't have assumed it was, but just for the future, you can (probably) save yourself much gamer grumpiness by saying upfront that it costs money, and how much.

Keep the cheer & keep up the good work!

Ellerwind

Mar 02, 2018

TY. Playing on 'hard mode' (for lack of a better term). Works now

Vito

Mar 02, 2018

I'll buy it when I'll go for my next playthrough. Don't worry, Mr. Gilbert, not everyone on the internet is a whiny *beep*. We appreciate your work, the free DLCs and the fact such a polished, nostalgic yet modern point and click adventure exists in this day and age. Can't wait for your next effort. I have yet to play a Ron Gilbert game that I don't love or at least like.

Bruno

Mar 02, 2018

This is awesome!!

Sascha

Mar 02, 2018

Hi Ron. Anything new and exciting you are up to these days ? Beside promoting the most amazing City somewhere in the US ?

Diego

Mar 02, 2018

Fuck those other clowns! I'm buying this! </ransome mode off>

Ham

Mar 03, 2018

Dear Mr. Gilbert

My name is Hamid and I am 30. All off my childhood was covered with Monkey island series and I have played them more than 5 times!!! Is there any chance for monkey island 6 in 2018 or later?!! Thimbelweed park is nice but monkey island is something else!!!Pretty Please Answer :DIs there a new monkey island?

Big Red Button

Mar 03, 2018

@ Ham:It is impossible for him to make another Monkey Island game, because he does not own the intellectual property (IP) for Monkey Island. Disney is the current owner of the IP, since they have acquired Lucasfilm (and LucasArts). Though, Disney are not interested in selling the Monkey Island IP and Ron is not interested in creating a game with an IP he does not own. So, I am afraid that a new Monkey Island game by Ron Gilbert is highly unlikely, even though he would like to do a "real" sequel to LeChuck's Revenge.

Ham

Mar 03, 2018

@Big Red Button:Thank you my dear. :D What do you mean about a "real" sequel to LeChuck's Revenge. Is it possible in terms of IP?

Big Red Button

Mar 03, 2018

@ Ham:Unfortunately, it is not. It was just an idea of Ron, which he described several years ago in a blog entry. See here:https://grumpygamer.com/if_i_made_another_monkeyislandAt the same time, he made clear that he has no such plans. He will never do another Monkey Island game, unless he gets the IP. He even has tried to talk to the responsible persons at Disney, but he said that he didn't get through.

Matej

Mar 03, 2018

1.99 EUR is a reasonable price for such an add-on.

Then again, since you'd asked us to buy ten copies of the Thimbleweed Park, that meens 19.90 EUR in DLC money! Not to mention the GOG version and the Steam version. ;)

Great work in either case!

Big Red Button

Mar 03, 2018

1.99 EUR is a reasonable price for such an add-on.

I fully agree on that. It's a shame that people can rate anything on GOG, even if they don't own it. No one is forced to buy the DLC. It's just an option for people who like it.

Evan

Mar 03, 2018

And that's why I quit the mobile market. Could never even come close to making a profit. Oh wait, my steam game isn't making me rich either...

Jez

Mar 04, 2018

Outstanding! Instant buy.

Nikita

Mar 04, 2018

Hello, mr. Gilbert! Could you please tell me why am i in your blacklist on tweeter? What have i done wrong? :*( And could you please tell me how to activate DLC ? I have bought it and nothing appeared in the Options-Video section. I even tried to restart the game but still i dont see any option to ON this DLC

Big Red Button

Mar 05, 2018

> > Could you please tell me why am i in your blacklist on tweeter?You might not have done wrong anything. Ron announced that he would avoid Twitter as much as he can from now on, because it's a time killer. Source: https://grumpygamer.com/2018_goals

And could you please tell me how to activate DLC ?

If the DLC is installed on your device already, you can activate it in the "Video" menu. Though, I have no idea why they placed both the DLC and the in-jokes under "Video". Maybe it's because that section had been so empty. By the way, you have to activate the DLC option in the Video menu whenever you have opened the game. Ron stated that this would be for the sake of kid-friendliness.

Big Red Button

Mar 05, 2018

@ Nikita:I re-read your comment. It seems that the DLC is not installed on you machine. If you bought the game on GOG, you have to install it separately. I'm not sure how the installation works with GOG Galaxy or Steam, though.

Nikita

Mar 05, 2018

The problem is i have installed the DLC (even on two machines - Mac and Windows) but it never appeared! DLC is installed in the same folder - c/gog games/thimbleweed park but in the game it doesnt appear! Could anyone help please?

WolfStark

Mar 05, 2018

2 Euro forsomethign that should be already in the game. While I think supporting small developers is something honorably this is definitly not. There are two options, either zero work was involved in this DLC because it's just an edited soundfile or unnecessary work was involved because of incompetence. I think I am not the only one with experience in working on games and editing audio is definitely something that doesn't involve any substantial work unless one did something really, really wrong. But the point is also, you could've had this already in the game. There are so many games that have an "option menu", not just with stuff like resolution but also the possibility of turning off and on blood or filters. And these things include not sound but visual work.

To want money for something so trivial is the big issue we face today in the industry. Instead of doing really add-ons, developers produce minor, trivial stuff that once modders made. Developers and publishers want to maximize profit by either producing content (before or after the release) that doesn't cost anything noteworthy or by providing a non-existing currency to by this trivial content and in the last years even gambling arised.

I buy games but I buy less year after year, because it doesn't seem to be enough to buy a game once.

Nikita

Mar 05, 2018

I dont agree with WolfStark and i have bought the DLC but man! Could anyone explain why it doesnt work? I tried everything ! I have the game fully uninstalled and installed again with a patch and DLC - no effect. I tried it on Mac and Windows - no effect! How can i make it work?

Someone

Mar 05, 2018

@NikitaDo you have the *latest* version of TWP installed? The DLC is only working with the current version of TWP.

If this is the case, please contact the support: support@thimbleweedpark.com

wysiwtf

Mar 05, 2018

Bought it the minute I saw it on steam.Can we also get a sherrif de-annoy-a-reno? I'd shell out up to 5 bucks for that! :D

Kudos for supporting your game so much after release and not just fixing the ugly bugs and be done with it. I like.

PS: Do not listen to the haters, they're gonna hate anyway.

Xan and Gus

Mar 05, 2018

Loving the Ransome DLC. Gamedev is so weirdly complex, and I do mean weirdly, that two bucks should be a magical gift to players. It is not just a tickbox.

DZ-Jay

Mar 06, 2018

Now, for the kicker, what I really want is a DLC with the /good/ ending. I'd imagine there's a bigger market for that than for uncensored audio. Just a thought.

-dZ.

Ron Gilbert

Mar 06, 2018

I'm growing a little tired of people ripping on the ending. It is the /good/ ending. It's exactly the ending I wanted. I'm sorry if you didn't like it, but it was the ending the story need. Endings to my games will always be weird or controversial. You are free to never buy another one of my games again. Endings don't exist to please the audience, they exist for the story and the story alone. Make your own game and do the ending you want for it, I'm sure 100% of your players will love it!

Guga

Mar 06, 2018

@Wolfstark

Well... did you read the part where he states that this DLC wasn't planned in advance?

DZ-Jay

Mar 07, 2018

I'm sorry you do not like purchasing customers criticizing your product. You are free to ignore my comment. My comments don't exist to please the author but to express my opinion. If you want to ignore your audience, that's your prerogative, I still have my opinion.

I re-iteratate the criticism I've seen repeated oftentimes online: it's a fantastic, brilliant, impressive game which I enjoyed immensely and thoroughly -- up until the end. It doesn't ruin the experience, it just cheapens it. If you want to take that to mean that we hate you and that we will never pay for another of your games, that's also your prerogative -- but it wouldn't be too accurate.

It's very easy to dismiss opinions that you do not like with "pffft! haters gonna hate." It takes courage and wisdom to accept other people's opinions. It's your blog so I am obviously at a disadvantage.

Still, I say that providing DLC for the /good/ ending would sell more than "unbeeping" the clown. Then again, people would say that it should have been included originally. I would still pay for it, as I paid for multiple versions of the game, and for this DLC just to support you. Yeah, I'm a hater.

Cheers! -dZ.

Zak Phoenix McKracken™

Mar 07, 2018

@DZ-Jay: just for fun, would you mind to open a TWP forum topic, in which you describe what would have been a good finale, in your opinion, for Thimbleweed Park?I'm sure this will lead to a long and probably interesting discussion, on the understanding that each author's choice must be respected, as expression of a personal and artistic form.

Tom

Mar 07, 2018

@DZ-Jay: While totally unexpected and not initially the ending I was hoping for, I have no problems accepting it for what it was, and based on the ending of Monkey Island 2, I was kinda expecting something along these lines... looking back at it, the story builds up to it, so would you care to elaborate how you think it "cheapens" the game? It does take a seemingly abrupt turn near the end, but it fits very well with the story. Unfortunately I did not get to resolve all characters endings, as I started with Delores and thought I'd get the chance to play the others after, but my mistake :) But the massive effort put into the Delores-ending can't possibly be seen as a cheap ending, imho. It could have ended at an earlier stage, still completing the story. I think the team walked the extra mile to make it something special.

Guga

Mar 07, 2018

@DZ-JaySorry, but I found your comment to be taunting and disrespectful. You can say "I didn't like the ending", you already did lots of times on the forum and it's your opinion. But bringing up again the "bad ending" basically saying there will be people willing to pay to forget how bad the original ending was... that's not an opinion.

Blombo

Mar 07, 2018

@DZ-JayI'm with you on the ending of TWP. I didn't like it, to me it felt stale, utterly unsatisfying and unexciting (sorry Ron; you're still my idol). On the other hand, I don't think telling Ron to "provide a good ending" makes any sense. Since we're not talking about some technical issue here, good or bad is purely a matter of taste: to Ron, that's obviosly the good ending - nay, that's the *best* ending. What would you expect him to do, come up to you with an ending and ask you "How do you like it?" and then change it as many times as it doesn't please you? What about all the other people? Some *do* like the ending of TWP, so they would certainly consider what you think is good to be bad. Should he change it again and again, making sure *everyone* likes it? Because you know, that's quite impossible. I think pretty much no one ever makes something thinking, "I'm making something bad, but who cares?". They do what the think it's best and you have to respect that. Your opinion is as valid as any, but asking Ron (and the whole TWP team) to make what you want (which BTW I bet you don't even know what that is) is completely unreasonable.

Paul

Mar 07, 2018

Something I find interesting is how Ron has divided things up into author-driven elements and then more audience-driven elements (I don't know if this is a conscious thing or not)...

For example, the puzzles are playtested and if lots of playtesters have a problem on a puzzle, that part is often changed to "fix" it, so it's driven by how the audience may react to it... but then I assume things like the story and reactions to the ending are not playtested?

It's like there an invisible line between the two... potentially you could put everything in the author-driven box (eg. puzzles exist purely as puzzles and as works of art, they are not for the audience to enjoy, so don't playtest them), or everything could go into the audience-driven box (let's playtest the reactions to the story, ending, etc. to make sure most of the audience will enjoy them).

I'm not saying any one way is correct, or what elements should be in which box, but it's interesting where the lines are drawn.

Cesar

Mar 07, 2018

Well, I think the ending was perfect, it was really fulfilling to end that way and closing one story at a time. It's kind of funny because I remember that the first time I finished Monkey Island 2 I was kind of disappointed and wanted to know about the story and not get back to reality but I ended up liking it after a while. With TWP the ending seemed perfect.

Kolzig

Mar 12, 2018

Bought it on day one in Steam. I'm thinking of buying it also on GoG since that's my preferred platform for games anyway. So you might be getting 2 euros more from me!

Jesse

4d ago

Will the DLC be playable seperately from the main game? I played on mobile but I did back the game originally so I have a steam key, I just waited for the iPad to play it. Will I have to play through the Steam version to access the DLC?

Stefano

4d ago

@WolfStark

"There are two options, either zero work was involved in this DLC because it's just an edited soundfile or unnecessary work was involved because of incompetence."

Can you point me to your groundbreaking contribution to the gaming industry? Or maybe do you wanna discuss a little bit about data structures and algorithms? Memory optimization perhaps?

MIchael

3d ago

"...video game prices are screwed up". Actually I would have paid more for Thimbleweed Park. I believe I purchased it on gog.com when it came out for 20 EUR(?). I could be mistaken but I remember wondering why it was that cheap.